Approximate Meta's design in my own forum

[alehandrof (Alex Armstrong)]

Hi folks,

Can someone suggest how we might approximate Meta’s design in our forum?

I am particularly interested in:

• hiding the sidebar by default
• highlighting certain categories above the list of posts
• removing the Latest / Categories / New options, as well as the Categories and Tags dropdown menus.
• the custom sidebar
• description below the category name

[chapoi]

@alehandrof

• hiding the sidebar by default

This is only possible when using the custom homepage, as that theme is doing. It’s also using the new Blocks API.

There is some general explanation on that theme in general here you might find helpful to peruse:

Rebuilding the Meta Branded theme: New icons, a custom homepage, and a first look at the Blocks API

We’ve just shipped a second iteration of our theme rebuild. While the first update was a visual refresh built on top of the previous Meta Branded theme, this version is essentially a new theme rebuilt from scratch. The new brand language was already introduced with the previous release, so there isn’t that much visible change on that front. What’s changed significantly with this update is the theme implementation itself, and what it showcases about where we’re heading with Discourse customizatio…

[Andrew_Rowe]

@alehandrof

• hiding the sidebar by default

I like the uncluttered look of the sidebar being hidden by default, especially for non-logged in users. My site probably gets a lot of one time check it out type visitors because of appearances at real life events and new users would be confused by the menu. Members know where to look for the menu if they need it and so I wanted it hidden by default.

Luckily Don made a really simple component that does exactly that

Can I default to a hidden sidebar?

Hello Nolo, I’ve made a component to achieve this. I hope it helps https://github.com/VaperinaDEV/closed-sidebar-by-default

@alehandrof

• highlighting certain categories above the list of posts

I use the featured topics component to do something similar

Featured Topics

Summary Feature topics based on tags. Repository Link Manuel Kostka / Discourse / Components / Featured Topics · GitLab New to Discourse Themes? Beginner’s guide to using Discourse Themes Install this theme component [The image shows a grid of four prompts for image captioning, each with a different topic, such as fruits, art, microwave ovens, and children's interests. (Captioned by AI)] Settings Among other options, you can se…

but I customize it with css - details here

@alehandrof

• removing the Latest / Categories / New options, as well as the Categories and Tags dropdown menus.

I thought the drop downs also added clutter for new users and hide it and used the breadcrumbs component to aid navigation in the absence of the drop downs

link to breadcrumb component and my customization

link to hiding drop downs details

@alehandrof

• description below the category name

This sounds like this component might help

Category Banners

Summary Category Banners uses existing category details to create banners for your category pages (for tags check out Discourse Tag Banners). Preview Preview on Discourse Theme Creator Repository Link https://github.com/discourse/discourse-category-banners New to Discourse Themes? Beginner’s guide to using Discourse Themes Install this theme component Features Category Banners uses existing category details to cr…

Not recommending my customizations as much as wanting to showcase how various available components and a little css can tailor the look of a Discourse forum and help it cater to individual communities and different needs

[chapoi]

@Andrew_Rowe

Luckily Don made a really simple component that does exactly that

Oh thats cool, always something new to discover haha